Karate kid inspires Hamilton charity boss to shotokan world title

Lesley Carmody, chairperson of Petal Support in Hamilton, won a silver and a bronze at the World Shotokan Karate Championships in Poland (Image: Douglas McKendrick/Hamilton Advertiser)

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A Hamilton charity boss followed her daughter into karate and ended up with a gold medal at the World Championships.

Lesley Carmody (48) won the female Masters over-45 kumite in Poland in April, where she also took bronze in kata, in the shotokan discipline.

Ms Carmody, who has been chairperson of the Petal bereavement charity since 2015, says she went into the championships with no high hopes, and doesn’t expect ever to eclipse her achievements.

However, she’s doubly determined to pass her black belt 2nd Dan next year and see how far she can go in the sport.

She said: “I won the Scottish Championships and was runner-up at the British Championships, so that qualified me.

“I went into it with no expectations. It was my first World Championships and I had only been awarded my black belt in November 2015.

“I had been to Poland on business but not that particular part, and not on holiday.

“I was absolutely delighted. I went in with no expectations at all, because I know how competitive it can be to get a medal.

“There were 29 countries involved, like Japan, Venezuela, Italy, France, Turkey and India, but I performed well on the day.

“I just wanted to see a World Championships and didn’t expect anything – but if you go into it with that attitude you can do good things, and I certainly exceeded my own expectations. That’s the pinnacle – without being negative, I don’t expect to achieve anything like that again.”

Driving her daughter Kiera to classes and seeing other adults getting involved prompted Lesley to give shotokan a try, and she quickly became hooked.

Following her World Championship success, Lesley took silver at the Scottish International Championships at Meadowbank, Edinburgh, in May, and will take part in the Scottish Grand Prix in August.

“I’m absolutely delighted that I kept it up,” said Lesley, from Livingston. “I thoroughly enjoy it as a sport and a discipline, and it’s a great sport for fitness.

“I’m 48 now and I’ve been doing shotokan since I was 32, so 16 years now. My daughter Kiera had been doing it since she was seven and got her black belt at 13, went on the competition circuit and did extremely well, so it was just a case of supporting her, really.

“She had gradings even at seven. I was running her back and forth and saw that there were some adults doing their gradings at the same time as Kiera, so I got interested and joined a local adult class.

“Kiera wasn’t as involved when she went to university, but I got my black belt grading and was going to five or six classes a week, basically as many as I could – but I’ve now got it down to a more manageable four!

“I’m desperate to get my black belt 2nd Dan and I’m eligible for that next December, because you need to have two years between gradings.

“I would recommend shotokan to others. It’s a contact sport, so you need to be prepared for that, but it’s a great way of keeping fit and learning new skills.”